Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Italic \I*tal"ic\, a. [L. Italicus: cf. F. italique. Cf.
   {Italian}.]
   1. Relating to Italy or to its people.

   2. Applied especially to a kind of type in which the letters
      do not stand upright, but slope toward the right; -- so
      called because dedicated to the States of Italy by the
      inventor, Aldus Manutius, about the year 1500.

   {Italic languages}, the group or family of languages of
      ancient Italy.

   {Italic order} (Arch.), the composite order. See {Composite}.
      

   {Italic school}, a term given to the Pythagorean and Eleatic
      philosophers, from the country where their doctrines were
      first promulgated.

   {Italic version}. See {Itala}.

Italic \I*tal"ic\, n.; pl. {Italics}. (Print.)
   An Italic letter, character, or type (see {Italic}, a., 2.);
   -- often in the plural; as, the Italics are the author's.
   Italic letters are used to distinguish words for emphasis,
   importance, antithesis, etc. Also, collectively, Italic
   letters.

Composite \Com*pos"ite\ (?; 277), a. [L. compositus made up of
   parts, p. p. of componere. See {Compound}, v. t., and cf.
   {Compost}.]
   1. Made up of distinct parts or elements; compounded; as, a
      composite language.

            Happiness, like air and water . . . is composite.
                                                  --Landor.

   2. (Arch.) Belonging to a certain order which is composed of
      the Ionic order grafted upon the Corinthian. It is called
      also the {Roman} or the {Italic} order, and is one of the
      five orders recognized by the Italian writers of the
      sixteenth century. See {Capital}.

Source : WordNet®

italic
     adj 1: characterized by slanting characters; "italic characters"
     2: of or relating to the Italic languages; "ancient Italic
        dialects"

italic
     n 1: a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the
          right
     2: a branch of the Indo-European languages of which Latin is
        the chief representative [syn: {Italic language}]
     3: a typeface with letters slanting upward to the right